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This is not a good movie. In this case, it is especially sad that the movie is bad, since the general idea is so original and good. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is, as many already have pointed out, originally a comic. A collection of characters known from (what we today call) classic literature are brought together to serve the British empire in a time of need. The film makers added a couple of characters to the League, Dorian Grey and Tom Sawyer, and replaced the invisible man from H.G. Well's novel with another invisible man. Dorian Grey fits in, but Tom Sawyer is misplaced and the single reason for putting him there was to put an American Hero in the center.

The comic this film is based on is a masterpiece. It is a piece of extremely brutal, depressingly dark fiction from the backyards of the "glorious" Empire of England. The recycling of fictional characters, as well as the extensive use of science-fiction technology from the late 1800's gives a nice frame to the storytelling. The story has depth, and at least I hinted quite a portion of social critisism and satire between the speech bubbles. In the comic, there are no heroes - there is no good side - which makes it interesting. In the movie, this is all turned upside down. The frame is the same, but the message is reversed. The story, although the actual line of events show similarities, was diminished to a Hollywoodistic battle between heroes and villains, between good guys with noble intentions and bad guys who are rotten to heart and soul, in the same manner as we have seen hundreds of times before.

Now, what I outline above would reduce The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to a standard action movie. Unfortunately, it is not good even when judged as such. There are thrilling events, I admit that, and many parts do tickle the imagination, but the plot really has problems not falling apart. Most of the time, you are left thinking "why on earth did they do that?" and "how could THIS lead to THAT?"

Special effects and acting are OK, but when the rest of the film crumbles this can save very little.

To conclude, I can recommend anyone interesting in comic books to get a copy of the League, but this movie should only be seen as an example of how to take a good idea and ruin it.

This film is truly a piece of art. The acting is superb. Especially I want to mention the young actors Emil Odepark (Leo, the outsider teenager) and Martin Wallström (Danne, the school bully). They both provide a lot to the heart and soul of the story. The message of the movie deals with choices we are forced to make in life, especially when all alternatives we have are bad, and the consequences we have to live with after the choices are made. This sounds very "deep", and indeed the storyline has several bottoms. Many questions are asked, and very few are answered. This movie makes you think.

In spite of the heavy subjects and the intellectual challenges, this film is never boring. In fact, I found it exciting from the first frame to the last. I can recommend this one to anyone who wants to see an exciting, well played, and well directed thriller that features more than good versus evil, hero versus villain. There are no heroes, and no villains, in this film.

Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" is the most filmed book in the world. There are a few quite decent movies based on it, a pair of real masterpieces (like "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" from 1922), and a whole bunch of really, really bad ones. Coppola's interpretation of the story is not one of the masterpieces. By far. The creepy, mystical terror that drives the novel and the classical Dracula movies was, unfortunately, drowned in gushing blood and sexuality. Moreover, a few "explanations" of the background of the undead count and his acting was added to this filming of the novel, which in my opinion reduced the mystics and terror further. Coppola's film is skillfully made, contains some really good acting, and has a romantic touch to it, which is what is saving it from being grouped with the really bad vampire movies from the seventies. I rate this Dracula movie as "decent", not more - not less.